BRENTWOOD, Mo. — Around 400 students at a suburban St. Louis school got part of the day off Friday after a 9-foot-long boa constrictor wriggled out of her aquarium, setting off a frantic search.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a teacher alerted officials at Brentwood high and middle schools of the escape around 10 a.m. The 70-pound snake went missing from an enclosure in a biology class. Students were sent home a short time later.

A broken hinge on the enclosure was blamed on the escape. The snake was found beneath the floor, wrapped around pipes. The ceramic floor was ripped up to retrieve her.

A biology teacher adopted the snake years ago and kept her at school. When she retired she left the snake for the school to keep.

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